GRAIN: The Backbone of Modern Work Agreements

Grain is a network or infrastructure solution that allows companies to use an instant payment mechanism to process work agreements on the blockchain. Grain allows the processing of labor contracts on the blockchain, making provisions for compensating workers via an instant payment mechanism.

According to a YouTube Video, Erik Koster said: “The goal of Grain is to map complete ecosystems surrounding work on the blockchain. And we believe that with Grain, we have created an engine, to which work, worldwide can be mapped and stored, on this blockchain, where payments can be made securely, where we can have certain financial mechanisms, insurance mechanisms to make surethat people’s lives do not change, it will just be more honest and with this engine we can then provide this, these means to partners worldwide that can also use this blockchain to make the workplace fairer than it is right now.” Also, Arjo van Ramshorst said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for developers to integrate their tools with our Grain solution. Therefore, we want to create a platform containing all different kind of tools and API’s and Plug-insthat are developed by us, but also by other developers that want to contribute to our open source ecosystem. At this point we are developing and testing the first version of core functionality of the smart contract for the Grain solution”.

There are several reasons why this blockchain technology is the best solution to processes involved with work agreements. These reasons include:

1. Flexibility in order to accommodate different types of agreements.
2. Cheap remittance of worker compensation.
3. Transparency so there is awareness of the agreements between and obligations of the involved party.
4. Without high transaction costs, payment can be made instantly across currencies.

Factors and variables such as dependency in country, work, person and situation (taxes, compliances, etc.) are solely involved in work agreements. Grain is built to serve as the primary infrastructure for transaction partners to ensure it is a viable solution for the processing of worker compensation agreements. Its protocol is “the new currency of work” and in order to suit possible work-agreement cases, partners can leverage the flexibility of the system’s protocol.

The Grain Ecosystem

The Grain ecosystem has 5 elements, namely:

1. Labor Contract: This is the most essential element of the blockchain used to register the agreement of when, where and how work will be performed.
2. Payment Mechanism: This facilitates the transfer of compensation from an employer to a worker.
3. Liquidity insurance: There could be fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies, this protects participants from such.
4. Harvest: This allow workers to gain from the success of GRAIN.
5. Governance: This make sure answers are provide by GRAIN to all regulatory and compliance requirements.

Element 1: Labor Contract
A smart contract is created once there is an agreement between an employer and a worker on the type of work and the compensation involved. This smart contract symbolizes a type of agreement between a worker and an employer registered on ablockchain. This is the only difference it makes from a regular agreement.
The features involved in this contract include:

• Who takes responsibility for work delivery
• When the work will be executed
• The available compensation for the work (this is in fiat currency and GRAIN, and the exchange rate between the fiat currency and GRAIN at the time is signed)
• Conditions for payment.
• When the consensus for the execution of work is reached

All these details are logged in on the blockchain which allows smart contracts to act objectively as a proof of agreement. The smart contract accommodates different types of work agreements as stated above. However, it does not necessarily mean labor contracts are restricted to employer-employee relationship when using the term “worker”. Any imaginable type of agreement that involves labor can be registered with GRAIN.

Element 2: Payment Mechanism
Workers are compensated for the work done once consensus is reached. GRAIN tokens are used for this payment and these GRAIN tokens which are determined by the contract are being transferred to the workers’ wallet. The contract is completed once the funds are at the worker’s disposal.

• Transaction System: The worker receives 100% of agreed funds in his wallet once work is completed and consensus has been reached. An additional payment is paid by the worker (about 1% of the transaction) which are being transferred to the worker’s personal Harvest fund for future purposes or immediate use. In order to process this transaction mechanism, a transaction fee of 0.25% is charged and this goes to the transaction partner and GRAIN foundation.
• Transaction fee: According to the transaction system, the transaction fee of 0.25% charged will be shared 50:50 between the transaction partner and GRAIN foundation. The foundation uses that share to steer continuous development, maintenance and operational costs of GRAIN ecosystem while the transaction partner that implements the GRAIN protocol uses it facilitate work agreements and transactions.
• Payment conditions: One of the most important processes under the payment mechanism is the condition on how the employer will pay for the work. The blockchain foresees three payment situations which include; Escrow, Currency option and Just-in-time payment. While providing these options, GRAIN supports any work agreement however both parties conclude as the most appropriate.

Element 3: Liquidity insurance
The volatility of cryptocurrencies and their exchange rates to fiat currency is non-negligible, so a mechanism is produced to make transaction from both sides protected.GRAIN has been made suitable in such a way that it is be the best option for employers and that is why there are 3 different payment methods to choose from. Out of the three, two of these methods; Escrow and Currency option must have a mechanism put in place for a successful execution of transactions.

The most important aspect of a work agreement is the part in which a worker receives the agreed amount in fiat. This comes with unforeseen circumstances too; an employer should not be punished if GRAIN value fluctuates.

Element 4: Grain Harvest
Harvest is one of the benefits of using GRAIN. The Harvest is the foundation’s solution for creating a platform where participants of the ecosystem share in the success of GRAIN. There two different ways in which rewards are created:

• Profits sharing of the escrow insurance.
• Direct individual compensation for workers.
  These rewards received by a participant goes into his or her wallet and they are left with the choice of when and how they want to withdraw from it, either directly to fiat currency via an automated exchange or to another ERC20-wallet.

Element 5: Governance and Compliance
Several country regulations and compliance issues are associated with labor across the world. GRAIN needs to be open and accommodating in order to facilitate work agreements throughout the world. GRAIN provides placeholders related to the written contract on the blockchain and transaction partners are given the opportunity of taking advantage of this feature. Codes or clauses can be added to smart contracts or measures can be implemented on the transaction partner’s end. Examples include:

1. Auditing options for external regulatory organizations.
2. Proof of experience or certification
3. Tax mechanism and fees auditing
4. ID checks for participants of GRAIN
5. Other additional possible measures.

• Grain is Ethereum Based: ERC20-compatible token.
• Whitelisting start: January 2018
• Total Token Supply: 3,600,000,000 GRAIN tokens.
• Token sale: 30% of the tokens during ICO.
• Pre-ICO sale date: February 1st, 2018.
• Pre-ICO individual minimum: 5 ETH.
• Pre-ICO individual cap: 100 ETH
• Pre-ICO bonus: 20%.
• Public Token sale date: March 1st, 2018.
• Public token sale individual minimum: 0.1 ETH
• ICO soft cap: 3273 ETH
• ICO hard cap: 32727.27 ETH
• Token distribution date: April 2018.
• Price of the token: 1 ETH / 33000 GRAIN (0.00003 ETH / GRAIN)

Token Distribution
During public offering, 30% of the GRAIN tokens generated are being made available for purchase. To ensure a sustainable ecosystem, tokens that are not being released after the token sale and first bounty release are kept by the GRAIN foundation.

• 1%: Bounty Program
• 5%: Founding Team
• 15%: Advisors / Partnerships
• 24%: Foundation
• 25%: Escrow fund
• 30%: Public sale

Spending Plan
The potential impact of the GRAIN foundation depends on sold tokens during the public sale. The amount of collected funds can be allocated simply by creating a dynamic budget. The token sale will be capped at 30 million euros, which is the required amount for the disruption of the current workforce ecosystem globally and for the execution of a stable GRAIN foundation.

• 1%: Token sale cost
• 2%: Legal and security (third-party providers)
• 7%: Operations
• 20%: Reserves
• 35%: Marketing and business development
• 35%: Development.

CONCLUSION

Grain has the very potential to change how the world revolves around us through the blockchain technology. This is done by eliminating the inefficiencies involved with work agreements. GRAIN ensures that:

1. Companies pay only the necessary costs related to work agreements.
2. Payment for work across currencies are cheaper and more equal for those that deliver the work.
3. Payment is made to everyone on time and the risk of bankruptcy is avoided.
4. Companies make use of the most efficient and cost-effective protocol for the handling of work agreements with respect to their dynamic workforce.

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